Stock-car



(NoModelJ 2 SheetsSheet 1. 5

J. J. PADDEN.- STOCK. OAR;

Pa tented July 5, 18

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet-2.

J. J. PADDEN.

STOCK GAR.

No. 243,960. Patented July 5,1881.

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UNITE STATES PATENT OFFIC JOHN J. PADDEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

STOCK-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 243,960, dated July 5, 1881.

' Application filed September 22, 1880. 7 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. PADDEN, of Chicago, (look county, Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Stock-Oars, of which the followingis a full, clear, and complete specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a car for the transportation of live stock which shall insure the highest degree of safety and comfort for the stock,with convenience of handling the same. at the lowest cost of expense and trouble.

The main feature of my invention consists of the introduction of flexible gates into the car to divide it into compartments, together with arrangements for watering and feeding the stock and provision for carrying feed.

The invention is shown in detail in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure lrepresents a side view of the car, presenting in one portion an exterior, and in another an interior, view. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section, and Fig.3 is a top view, of the car as it appears with the roof removed and without the partition-floor, like letters representing like parts in the different figures.

An ordinary stock-car is provided with as many flexible gates A as are necessary to divide it into as many compartments as the car can accommodate head of stock. The gates are formed of parallel bars joined together by connecting-links or other flexible connections, which will allow them to fold upon each other. The gates are suspended by chains ca, attached to the top bar or rail, to shafts or rollers B, which extend across the car immediately under the roof, the ends being pinioned, so as to turn freely in proper bearings provided in the sides of the car, the pinions at one end of the rollers extending through and beyond the side of the car, so that a crank may be attached for turning the rollers, and thus winding up and raising the gates, the projecting pinion also being provided with a ratchet and pawl, b, to prevent the unwinding of the gate when raised. The ends of the bars forming the gates slide freely up and down in grooves or slots 0, provided in standards or posts 0, secured at the sides of the car. i

Hinged to the side of the car is 'a narrow platform, I), which, when not in use, folds down against the side of the car, but may be raised so as to project horizontally from the side of the car, where it is supported by any suitable adjustable device, d, and thus forms a platform upon which a person may stand for the purpose of operating the crank b and pawl and ratchet b.

It will be observed from the drawings that upon one half of the car the ratchcts b and platform Dare placed upon one side ot' the same, and upon the other half of the car they are placed upon the opposite side; but this arrangement is merely one of convenience, to be adopted or not, as circumstances may suggest.

In operation, when it is desired to load the car with stock, by means of the crank b the gates A are wound upon the roller B, where they are sustained by means of the ratchet and pawl b, leaving a clear space throughout the interior of the car. The stock is then in troduced into the car, and by disengaging the ratchets the gates are successively dropped and the stock secured in the separate compartments. In each of the compartments thus formed is placed a rack, E, for holding hay or other provender for the stock. In the drawings this rack is represented, except in Fig. 2, as placed in only one of the compartments 5 but the invention contemplates, as already stated, the placing of this rack .in each of the com partments.

In the roof of the car, over each rack, is a scuttle or trap-door, F, through which feed may be introduced into the rack.

Beneath the racks, and running along the side of the car, is a trough, G, for the purpose of holding grain or water for the stock. This trough is preferably of cast-iron and semi-cylindrical in form. It is supported in position by gudgeons or pinions projecting from its ends, which are secured in suitable bearings, thus permitting the trough to be rotated by means of any suitable device attached to its outer projecting extremity, for the purpose of emptying it of anyrefuse. The troughis made of awidth which permits it to project inwardly but little, if any, beyond the standards 0 of the car. The outer side of the standard is recessed as at c, and the inner edge of the trough is recessed as at g, thus permitting the trough to be placed close to the side of the car, and at the recessed portions to pass between the side of the car and the standards, and so occupying the minimum of space.

Water may be introduced into the trough by means of a system of pipes connecting with the locomotive-tank. Each car is fitted with apipe, I, which enters it at a point immediately over the trough, and is furnished with a cock or faucet, 6, through which water is introduced into the trough. From this point the pipe passes to the roof, and along beneath'the roof to the opposite end of the car, where it descends and emerges at a point directly over the trough at that end of the car, being also supplied with a faucet at that point. The pipe terminates at each end of the car in a flexible hose, i, of sufficient length to connect with that from the adjoining car, to which it may be joined by any suitable coupling device. Water may thus be introduced by means of a force-pump into all of the cars directly from the engine.

If desired, a partition-floor, J, can be placed in the car at the proper height to afford sufficient space for the accommodation of the stock below, and thus allow the storage of hay or other provender, properly compressed, for the sustenance of the stock during transit. In the stock-cars now in ordinary use there is hardly sufficient space to make the use of this floor practicable; but by building a car upward of eighteen inches higher than the present style of car the introduction of the floor is practicable and in some cases desirable. When the floor is introduced the racks E terminate at the point where they meet the floor, and the floor must be constructed with transverse slots or openings extending across the car to allow the passage through them of the gates A.

If desired, when an open frame-work car is used, it can be inclosed with blinds, as shown at H, which are composed of a frame with transverse slats capable of semi-rotation, so that the blinds can be opened or closed in the same manner as ordinary house-blinds, thus permitting the car to be made open or close, according to the exigencies of the weather.

The advantages of these appliances are that they can be applied to the ordinary stock-cars now in use with comparatively small expense, and a car constructed in this manner insures the safety and comfort of the stock during transportation, permits them to be fed and watered Without removal from the car, all at the minimum expense of space, and permits almost the entire space of the car to be utilized for the carriage of freight upon its return-trip.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the flexible gates A, roller B, and pawl b with the posts 0, provided with grooves or slots 0, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination of the flexible gate A, roller 13, crank I), pawl 12, posts 0, provided with grooves c, and platform 1), substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

JOHN J. PADDEN.

Witnesses:

PLINY B. SMITH, T. S. E. DIxoN. 

